


Found Family

by embarrassingresultofmyfreetime



Series: And They Were Happy AU [4]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Basically Dhawan!Master saw Jenny and hit ADOPT, Established Relationship, Gen, Happy Ending, Wholesome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:47:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24853312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/embarrassingresultofmyfreetime/pseuds/embarrassingresultofmyfreetime
Summary: The Master finally gets around to seeing the universe in a more peaceful way and runs into a young woman looking for her father.
Relationships: Spydoc - Relationship, The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who), Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan), Thoschei - Relationship
Series: And They Were Happy AU [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1684924
Comments: 22
Kudos: 129





	1. Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> The Next Part of the 'And They Were Happy AU' Series

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To avoid confusion:  
> When talking about the 10th Doctor, Jenny and the Master/O still use he/him  
> And when talking about 13, Jenny and the Master/O use she/her  
> Yes, 13 is still a Dad  
> Deal with it.

O was well aware that the Doctor frowned on him taking unsolicited trips in his Tardis. He wasn't the best pilot and didn't have nearly enough experience to travel the countless and strange civilizations among the stars, especially since the loss of over a thousand years worth of memories.

However, sometimes, he just couldn't resist.

The Doctor was right. There was so much out there.

O didn't suddenly develop the Doctor's passion for saving lives, but he was learning to appreciate the simpler pleasures the universe had to offer.

For instance, there was a small restaurant he had once stumbled into, quite by accident, on an asteroid far out in another solar system. It's functionality was the equivalent of a gas station for space hoppers, but the tables were always clean and the woman who worked there every other evening made some of the best food he had ever eaten. That, paired with the beautiful view of the stars, made it one of his favorite places to spend his evenings when Sheffield's skyline didn't quite suffice.

He never went anywhere too busy, by choice, and even installed a filter for his Tardis to prevent him from landing in some distant bustling city by accident. He found most people exhausting- with all their rushing about and their chatter. Most likely, his little patience for crowds could be attributed to all his time spent as the Master, but he found it best not to think about it.

What O did like was spending time in a public garden on a certain distant moon. He liked to sit among its comforting, tall, orange grass and read for hours.

He liked the views of supernovas and the white noise of babbling streams, the intriguing novelty and calming beauty.

He was seeing the world, just like the Doctor had always wanted him too- but more than that, he was warming up to seeing the world in a new way.

One such peaceful evening he sat himself in his favorite seat of his favorite restaurant with his favorite view and an interesting novel in his hands. A caffeinated beverage sat, long forgotten and long since cooled, to his left. He had ordered it purely out of social obligation- the price of admission, as he saw it, to stay in the restaurant for an extended period of time- but he really didn't mind.

If anything, it gave him an excuse to overtip the only stranger whose company he appreciated, the kind hearted store owner.

She always called everyone 'dear', never took crap from anyone, and always knew what was best to order. Most importantly, she never asked O any personal questions. Nothing more than a simple, "Hello, it's good to see you again, dear. What's your fancy?"

O was pretty sure she didn't even know his name.

She was amazing.

Suddenly, on page 49 of O's latest intriguing read, a young lady sat herself down across from him completely uninvited.

"You have two hearts!" She immediately blurted out.

"And you have vocal cords," O observed, unimpressed and quite annoyed that she must have scanned him. He felt it was invasive and probably illegal. However he was working on his temper, so he chose to dismiss it.

O narrowed his eyes in a bitter annoyance and glanced her over.

The stranger looked human. All blond and pale and lean but with a noticeably firm build. Her eyes shone ecstatically, as if O was the most interesting person she's ever seen.

O successfully suppressed an eye roll at the unbridled excitement pouring off of her.

"I'm not interested in conversation so please, sit somewhere else," O demanded as politely as he could.

The lady shook her head in an animated motion. Her long hair swayed from the bundle it was tied back in, and her kind eyes looked O over once more.

"Sorry- I mean, my name is Jenny!" She held out a hand, clearly failing to reel in her excitement. She beamed at him from a halo of presumably faux fur that trimmed the hood of her army green coat and extended a hand over the table.

O didn't return the pleasantry.

"I honestly don't care who you are," O said flatly. "I'm not interested in whatever you're selling."

O closed his book, made a mental note of the page, and got up from his seat. He could make up for the coffee next time he stopped by. Anything to get out of this uncomfortable situation as quickly as possible.

O was nearly at the door when the woman blocked his path.

"Alright! Just wait! I'll tell you the truth! I- I'm looking for my father. He's a Time Lord who has two hearts: just like me a-and just like you! I... Alright, I _may_ have scanned you."

"And?" O asked impatiently.

"And... you don't match. But I thought you might know him!"

O took a deep breath, mostly as an excuse to stall his answer. The young woman looked so optimistic, so thrilled to finally have some kind of lead. O shook his head and tried to let her down easy.

"I'm sorry but you must be confused. Time Lords don't participate in that sort of... _activity_ ," he explained uncomfortably.

"Even if they did," he continued, "that's not how Time Lords are created."

That was certainly a loaded sentence if there ever was one. He shook the thought from his mind and continued, "I'm not sure what you think you know, but you must be the by product of some _other_ creatures with multiple hearts. Have a good day."

O slid his book into one of his bigger-on-the-inside pockets and slipped past her.

He was nearly free when the woman abruptly caught his arm with incredible strength- completely stopping O in place. He turned to her, eyes wide with surprise.

"No, I just have the one parent. Let me explain! _Please?_ " She begged.

O complied out of curiosity alone- and not because he wouldn't have been able to do much else against her death grip. He didn't try to run again as the stranger dragged him back to the table.

She took a seat in the chair opposite to his booth and tried her pitch again.

"My name is Jenny. I was created by a machine during this... multigenerational-war between humans and the Hath," the woman leapt right to it, "My father was a Time Lord who was passing through. He put an end to the war but I-" she hesitated, "I was shot. He must think that I died, but I woke up a day later, perfectly fine!"

A smile quickly found its way to her face again.

"I was made from his DNA, extrapolated to become a soldier. With the fighting over, I realized I could go wherever I wanted, be someone new like he would want me to be! And I've been looking for him. You're the only other person with two hearts and a similar genetic makeup that I've run across. It can't be an coincidence."

O could see that she was clearly both determined and stubborn enough to keep O there until he gave something up.

He knew that there were no more Time Lords, but then again, how many Time Lords would bother stopping a war?

Could she really be....

"Your father, did he tell you his name?" O asked, trying to put it all together.

"No," Jenny admitted, sadly, "but he went by the name 'Doctor' if that helps."

O ran his tongue over his teeth. Of course.

He should have suspected. The Doctor never could keep themself out of trouble. Still, this was certainly a new one.

O was annoyed that his evening off was over, but he supposed- if this was all true- things were about to get far more interesting.

After some consideration, he made a decision.

"I know who you're looking for," he caved with a soft chuckle,

"But I should give you a heads up, he's regenerated now so he might not be how you remember."

"You know him?! Can you take me to him?!" the young woman's eyes lit up in joy.

"It's her now," O gently corrected, "but yes, I can. We're married after all."

Technically. Not legally. But paperwork meant nothing compared to the simple yet gorgeous ring on his left hand.

"Married!" Jenny exclaimed, "Does that make you my mom? I've never had a mom before."

"If you'd like," O shrugged, not missing a beat. His mind was still too caught on the idea of the Doctor having a daughter he had never heard about to bother with gendered familial terms. Plus he could always swap with the Doctor later if she preferred it.

"Would you like something to eat while you're here?" O offered, "The food is always excellent."

"Really?" Jenny beamed.

"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't," O quipped flatly. "Get anything you'd like."

Jenny grinned wildly, "That's so nice of you!"

O's polite smile fell, "I don't make a habit of it. I just want to make sure you're not secretly plotting to kill the Doctor before I take you to her."

This didn't phase Jenny in the slightest.

"I understand! If you love her you must want to be careful. Did she ever tell you about me? You didn't recognize me."

O raised his eyebrows at this,

"Uh, actually no, she hasn't."

Jenny's expression dropped slightly.

"She... she probably didn't want to talk about it. The last memory I have of him was when he... was holding me and promising that we would go see the stars together."

O let out a small, wistful breath of amusement. He had heard that one before.

"He could be like that," O smiled slightly, "He must have loved you very much."

Jenny faltered, her hands entwined nervously, "Will she be happy to see me? She's always off saving worlds and I'm just.... I was a soldier and he didn't like that but I'm trying to be better now! I'm working on it and after so long... I really hope she'll want to see me."

O instantly recognized the feeling,

"Of course she'll be happy to see you! And even if she isn't, _I'm_ happy to see you."

O surprised himself with his own outburst of emotion. He was usually very slow to warm, but he knew all too well how it felt to worry you're not enough for the Doctor. He wouldn't have anyone else feeling such a terrible thing, especially not this wonderful woman who he was already beginning to consider his daughter as well.

Something warm and protective began to take place in his chest, like a strange and sudden responsibility to her.

Jenny beamed at his support, "Thank you!"

A nice waitress soon came over and took their order. O was pleased that she, yet again, did not ask about O's life and thankfully didn't outwardly ask about his present company.

Once they were alone again, Jenny began to recount her adventures. O listened with great interest about how she left her home- which clearly wasn't much of a home at all- to go on adventures of her own. A lot of her life ever since was spent jumping from ship to ship to keep moving.

Jenny had apparently been created with a natural ability to fight, so she found a position as a bodyguard for a period of time which took her all over the universe. And all the while, she kept an eye out for her father.

She had had no luck finding him before now, but she did occasionally hear stories about him. Stories of the worlds he had saved and how the 'Doctor Donna'- a friend of the Doctor's whom she had also met- had saved the whole of the universe itself.

In the last few years, Jenny had been traveling on her own. She had learned about all different kinds of people on dozens of planets and traveled hundreds of light years.

As her story approached present day, O realized that they were actually quite far from 21st century Earth still. It was only because of his Tardis's exceptional ability that they had run into each other. He wondered if the whole tardis-psychic-thing could have played into this somehow.

They ate while they swapped stories and O was surprised to find that he didn't entirely mind her company.

Jenny was a lot like the Doctor in many ways. She had a sort of chaotic energy about her and an optimistic fascination with all the amazing things in the dark world they lived in.

When the pair was finished, O paid for them both and heavily tipped the bill before leading Jenny to his Tardis.

"Welcome to my home," O commented as he pushed open the front door.

"It's a house!" Jenny observed with wide eyes.

"It is."

"You live here?"

O opened up a hidden panel in the wall and pressed the return switch he had installed there.

He had also installed stairs up to his main console room, but the presets would do just fine for now.

"Technically," he smiled.

Jenny fell into a nearby chair as his ship began to move. Outside his windows, a haze of beautiful lights passed them by. Jenny ran to one and pushed aside the curtains for a better view.

She curiously opened it and peeked her head out, letting the rush of purples, blues, and gold pass her by at racing speeds.

O smiled at her excitement. He traveled alone so much that he often forgot to appreciate the sheer beauty of this part of his adventures.

"Careful with that,' O chuckled, "The last thing I want is for you to fall into the timestream."

He chuckled as a new thought found its way into his mind, "I'll have a heck of a time explaining it to your father!"

Jenny laughed a full and warmhearted laugh that made O's own hearts feel something new.

It was a strange feeling, but he couldn't say he minded it too much.

'Oh goodness,' O realized, 'this parenthood thing is going to stick, isn't it?'

"Okay, Mom!" Jenny replied happily, still awestruck at the swirl of the time vortex. Luckily the Tardis's external fields held fast to keep her safe, just as O knew they would.

"It's beautiful!" Jenny exclaimed.

"It is," O mused.

He then checked the settings on his secondary controls. A moment later, they were back on Earth just minutes after O had initially left, without a problem.

However, how he was going to explain this to the Doctor was still a mystery.

Jenny sprinted to his front doors and pushed them open. She was greeted by the quiet street O lived on at the edge of Sheffield. In the evening sun, people were finding their way home or searching for a late dinner. It was nothing spectacular, but O quickly realized that Jenny had never _seen_ Earth before. To her, it was all spectacular.

"This is where my dad lives?" She asked curiously, "Where are we?"

"Sheffield, England, Earth, the Milkyway Galaxy, etcetera, take your pick," O explained, a mild breath of humor on his every word, "It's alright I suppose. I'm warming up to it."

Jenny excitedly leapt from his porch and began to investigate the town. O strolled after her.

"I'm not sure if the Doctor is back yet, but I can give her a ring and set something up-"

O found himself suddenly being hugged with superhuman strength. He could barely breathe under the tight clasp of Jenny's arms, but he appreciated the sentiment.

"Thank you!" Jenny smiled, "I can't wait!"

And a moment later she was off again to explore.

O took a moment to straighten his clothes and brush a stray strand of his hair back into place.

Yep, Jenny was the Doctor's kid alright.

O closed his eyes for a short moment and chuckled at the strangeness of it all. Just when he was beginning to think nothing could surprise him anymore, here he was.

O pulled out his phone and dialed the Doctor's number while Jenny tracked down something moving in the neighbor's bushes.

"Hello!" The Doctor's cheerful voice immediately answered, "We're in the middle of rounding up these zaprons- little electricity eating pillbugs the size of dogs!" She explained, out of breath, "They hatched on Earth and we can't find the mother yet so they're running amuck!"

In the background, O could hear Yaz and Ryan trying to corner one of them while Graham sighed about how they should just offer the creatures a nice sandwich and lure them in instead of running about.

"Speaking of mothers," O couldn't help himself, "could you stop over when you get a minute?"

"Ryan! Wait! They're called ZAP-rons for a reason- !" O could hear her calling. A moment later she spoke again, defeated, "Eh, he'll figure it out. What day is it there?"

O pulled his phone away and glanced at the date and time before replying.

"7:36 P.M. May 12th, 2020."

"I'll aim for it," the Doctor replied.

"See you SOON," he insisted, then hung up and he knew the Doctor did the same on her end.

O heard the sound of her Tardis materializing just minutes later. She was very rarely on time for anything, but if O asked her specifically, she usually understood that it was important to him and tried just a little harder to hit the mark.

The tall, blue, box materialized in his front lawn- just off center of the patch of browning grass that is usually landed on.

"Wow! Sorry, that took so long! Did I get close? I couldn't hear much of what you were saying but I traced the call back to here," the Doctor apologized as she stepped out of her ship. The tall thin door squeaked in its usual familiar way and clicked shut as the Doctor closed it behind her.

O reached over to pull a large leaf out of her hair. His lips twitched with amusement before discarding it.

"Yes, actually, and I'm glad for it. How do I put this," he decided to amuse himself.

He put a finger to his lips for a moment.

"In short, we have a daughter now. But good news, she's yours."

He wasn't sure what he expected, but the Doctor simply shook her head.

"No, no, I'm not falling for this again," the Doctor replied with a skeptical smile, thinking it all some kind of prank.

"I read a book- a disgusting book- but I know for sure there's no way you and I can reproduce."

"No, just you, she's yours." O hinted.

The Doctor clearly wasn't following.

"No, I checked that too. Plus we don't do what would be necessary. Even if-"

O rolled his eyes and gently turned her chin to look down the sidewalk.

"No. _She's yours_." He spelled it out.

At last, the Doctor bothered to look away from O to see a young blond woman who was inspecting a stray cat a few houses down the road. She had clearly never seen a cat before and watched it curiously as it brushed itself against her legs.

"Mom, look! This creature vibrates!" She called, not looking up. "Is it venomous?"

"No, dearest," O called back fondly, "but it has claws so don't pick it up."

The Doctor simply stood there, dumbfounded and speechless, next to him. O had to admit, he enjoyed anything that could render the Doctor speechless.

He decided to give her a minute. If she had really believed Jenny dead, then this really must be quite the shock.

"She said she's been looking for you and her story sounded too crazy to be made up. I had to bring her," O elaborated.

He could see tears beginning to fill the Doctor's eyes, her shock turning into disbelief at the long forgotten grief this brought her.

"Are you okay?" O finally dared to ask.

The Doctor looked to him suddenly, hugged him, and then began to sprint down the pavement.

"Jenny!"

The young woman looked up from the cat and to the Doctor running right at her. She spared O a glance but quickly understood when she saw the knowing smile on O's face.

"Dad?" Jenny suddenly exclaimed as she looked back to the Doctor.

The Doctor abruptly engulfed her in a hug and swung Jenny off her feet in excitement.

"You're okay!" The Doctor exclaimed, "I thought- I thought you were dead!"

The Doctor finally returned her to the ground but held her protectively, her face riddled in sadness from lifetimes ago.

"I shouldn't have left so soon! I should have known somehow! I should have waited!"

"Dad, it's okay!" Jenny promised through warmhearted laughs,

"I've seen so much! And I've been looking for you so I can tell you all about it!"

The Doctor finally let her pull away enough to look her in the eye.

Jenny raced to explain her journey,

"I made this detector to pick up on anyone else with genetic similarities as me and I nearly forgot about it but I was refueling my ship on an asteroid in Neptune- the system not the blue planet- and it started going crazy! And then I met Mom and he's been so nice to me-"

"Mom?" The Doctor asked.

Jenny beamed, "Your husband! He said it was okay."

"Husband. Right," the Doctor noted. Her and O would have a longer conversation about that a bit later.

The Doctor quickly forgot about it as she pulled Jenny into another hug.

"Brilliant, you are!" She beamed proudly, "Getting all the way to Earth! You have to tell me all about it!"

Jenny could barely breathe from the Doctor's tight embrace but she had been looking forward to it for so long that she didn't care.

Jenny grinned, tears brimming in her eyes,

"Of course! I want to tell you about everything!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> Father's Day is a sucky holiday for a lot of people but I've had this in my drafts for so long now that I figured I might as well post it.
> 
> I want to write a full story with 13 and Jenny and maybe the whole fam + O too, but I genuinely have no idea where to go from here.  
> I'm open to suggestions and if any of them really inspire me then maybe I'll just continue this story from here and take it chapter by chapter.  
> Choose your own adventure.  
> Where should they go? What trouble should they get into? Should the fam meet Jenny?  
> I might just be yelling into the void but I really need a new project so give me whatever you've got. Or bother me on my tumblr and we can bounce around ideas idk
> 
> Thanks again for reading xoxo  
> -
> 
> Edit: (1/4/2021)  
> Hello again! You may have noticed that this is no longer categorized as a completed work!  
> Yes, I am indeed opening up this fic again! Please thank everyone in the comments of this chapter for inspiring me to continue with this series lol


	2. One of Our Own

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm back, baby!  
> This whole story is just a very wholesome, very family-oriented fic about the Doctor, her fam, and Jenny becoming a part of it. It follows the same overall story and style as the rest of my 'And They Were Happy AU' series, and more or less follows the format of a canon episode.  
> I actually wrote like 97% of this fic back in summer of 2020 but I was honestly just too nervous to post it. I guess I was worried it wouldn't hold up with the rest of the series idk.  
> However, people have consistently continued to comment on this fic- more than any other- and I really do love this au anyways so yeah. Your support has finally convinced me to post this lol. Thank you. :)  
> Here you go:

Jenny told the Doctor all about her adventures well into the night. Most of it was reiterating what she had told O, but Jenny went into even more detail now that she had finally found who she was looking for.

Jenny spoke all about how she stole a ship and ran away to go see the universe- truly a woman after her father's hearts.

O brought some tea out to where they had all settled on his Tardis's porch, and found that he didn't quite mind listening to the same story over again.

Even more so, he liked to watch the way the Doctor leaned in to Jenny's words, fully absorbed by every detail. She looked at Jenny with hearts so full yet so sad. She was so proud of Jenny, for truly taking hold of her life and for making her way so far across the stars- and yet so mournful to have missed so much of Jenny's life. It was a look O knew he would never forget.

The Doctor listened intently, determined to memorize every word. Jenny's adventures sounded so very much like the Doctor's own stories: just one person against the never ending universe. Thankfully, Jenny hadn't been nearly as alone.

She had found help along the way. She'd met so many interesting people and seen so many beautiful planets. She'd been caught up in revolutions and thefts and mysteries galore, with friends she picked up along the way at her side. She was strong and curious and creative and O's own fondness of her only grew with each passing word. She was... fearless it seemed. Driven to her core to find her family. And now she could finally be part of one again.

O couldn't help but take the Doctor's hand in his own, and the Doctor immediately locked her fingers over his hand so tightly it almost hurt. The Doctor's disbelief took time to dissolve, as if perhaps Jenny's return still might be a dream. O did what he could to help her through it. He could only imagine what was going through the Doctor's mind.

The Doctor had expressed to him on more than one occasion that she believed she could never have a 'regular' life. That she always had to keep moving because anything stable she build for herself was always taken away in the end. O had promised her that would never happen as long as he had anything to say about it. He promised the Doctor that could sit on his couch and be bored until the end of time if that was what she so desired. The Doctor had had a good laugh at that.

And now, all of a sudden, it wasn't only them anymore.

They had a kid! By the stars, _they had a kid_. Of course it helped that Jenny was already a more than capable adult, but there was still more to parenting than keeping your kid alive to adulthood.

Jenny was still _new_ from the sound of it. A capable adult, yes, but inexperienced at heart. Not unlike the way the Doctor and the Master had been physically adults when they had been created into being, and yet inexperienced kids running about the Academy in their own hearts.

It was easy for them to understand Jenny's unique perspective because she was different than the humans. Jenny was _like them_.

Jenny had healing abilities from the sound of it, but they were delayed and they weren't full body regenerations. They were a different variation of what the Doctor and O were. Jenny had seen some of the universe, but nearly as much as her parents.

There was still so much for the Doctor and O to teach her and they couldn't be more thrilled at the opportunity.

"So how have you two been? To end up living on this beautiful planet?" Jenny asked once her story had caught up to the present.

The Doctor and O both looked to each other. How would they even begin to explain?

"That... is a _very_ long story," the Doctor eventually said.

O nodded in agreement.

"Just some of it then? Please?" Jenny pleaded with wholehearted and innocent curiosity.

The Doctor paused for a while, clearly unsure where to begin.

"We... went to school together," O eventually decided.

The Doctor laughed at such a simple explanation of what usually took hours to explain.

"Am I wrong?" O hummed.

The Doctor shook her head, "No, I suppose you're not."

"We went to school together and then there was a bit of a... misunderstanding," O explained as casually as he could manage. "And we got into a huge argument- but we never could keep away from each other for long, even when we were angry with each other."

"That's one way of putting it," the Doctor nodded in agreement. She grinned, deeply amused by such an abridged version of their lives.

"And then we tried to get along again- a few different ways- but none of them worked. And then... just when we were about to give up- we figured out a... compromise. And I suppose the universe rewarded us for it because things have worked out for the best, I believe. Would you say that's close, my dear?"

The Doctor brushed a small tear of laughter from her eye.

"That's terribly accurate, yes."

"That's a wonderful story!" Jenny beamed, "You've known each other for so long! Been through so much together! That's amazing!"

O laughed, his hearts a little overwhelmed. There were a lot of people who weren't huge fans of their battles across the stars- namely the people who were collateral damage- but they were dead now so he supposed their opinions didn't really matter anyways.

"That's sweet of you to say, my dearest. I do quite like it myself," O smirked.

The Doctor looked at him like she almost wanted to scold him, but she had to admit that she was quite fond of it herself. They had been through a lot to get to this point, and she was so very, very happy that it had paid off.

Her hearts were more full than ever.

She had not only a family of humans again, but now she had a family of her own! Of people _like her_. She loved the humans, but they didn't understand how lonely it could still be to be the only odd one in the group. To be the only one who could pilot the Tardis, and understand sonic technology, and feel the very passage of time slipping through her fingertips.

Humans were capable and adaptable- that was why the Doctor loved them- but they weren't the same. They didn't understand what it was like to die and be reborn, to have to start all over time and time again, to be the only one with a mind fast enough to save them from the trouble they got into on their adventures. Humans could get close, but they didn't have the same psychic abilities and capabilities that it took to properly pilot a tardis or know what points were fixed and which were flexible when they traveled in time. They could get close- and they were family- but O and Jenny could share that burden of being different.

They understood time on a level that humans simply weren't built for. They had capabilities and biological tricks that made them think a completely different way. For the first time, the Doctor's family could collectively understand her more fully and completely. She loved all of them, and she needed each of them for different reasons.

Only all together did it finally feel complete: Yaz and Graham and Ryan and O and Jenny. Her full fam.

The Doctor needed all of them to balance her out. Yaz's morality and kindness, Ryan's jokes and relatable nature, Graham's wisdom and experience, O's understanding of the Doctor's past and her very being, and now Jenny was someone who could learn from all of the Doctor's experience.

The world was so beautiful and strange and improbable- and the Doctor couldn't wait to show Jenny all of it! With the help of her fam, Jenny could become even better than the Doctor or O. She could draw from the vast variety of knowledge and experience. She could become so much more than any one of them was alone. She was already so brilliant, so clever, so incredible- and there was nowhere to go but up.

Jenny was the embodiment so many possibilities and she already had a head start. The Doctor couldn't wait to see the incredible person Jenny would become. She didn't want to miss another minute of it.

The Doctor took a deep breath.

"Dad? Are you okay?" Jenny asked softly.

O slid his chair over to the Doctor's and leaned over to her. He could easily see that she was a bit shaken up, and offered his comfort should she choose to take it. The Doctor allowed herself to be pulled into his arms and she hid her face in his shoulder for a moment.

"Yeah. I just... I love you both so much. I'm so happy. Wow that hardly ever happens. Do people usually cry when they're happy? Why is that?" the Doctor rambled as she tried to brush it off.

Jenny stood up and walked over to her parents. She chuckled as she leaned over the Doctor's shoulders and hugged her as well.

"It's alright. Please don't cry," Jenny asked.

"Okay. Okay- I won't. I'm just... so proud of you. Both of you," the Doctor did her best to wipe away her tears quickly.

She took another moment in O's arms to collect herself and lifted her head to find the both of them smiling away.

O's was amused yet so very loving, and Jenny's practically matched.

The Doctor... with a _family_. Her _own family_.

She laughed through a tear or two more as O stood up and the three of them melted into a proper hug.

There was a brief, peaceful moment as the Doctor soaked it in. Her and her family, safe and sound. It was a wonderful feeling. She could barely believe it. She was the last person to think something like this could ever be possible. That she could _ever_ be so overwhelmingly happy all at once.

Her eye suddenly caught something.

"Wait a moment, what's that?" she realized.

O chuckled slightly as he pulled away.

"I'll bite," he breathed, lovingly amused, "What is it, Doctor?"

"It's dark," the Doctor observed, looking out at the city as the sunset morphed into night.

O had learned long ago how this song and dance went. He knew the way the Doctor's brilliant mind could race through connecting the dots. There was always something interesting when she reached the other end of her thought process.

"And why is that strange, my love," he asked gently.

"It's night! Is night not dark on your planet?" Jenny asked, genuinely unsure what kinds of things were normal on this distant planet.

O spared Jenny a grin at her input.

"I can see that you're new here," O joked with a delightfully entertained inflection in his voice, "watch and learn."

O nodded in the Doctor's direction with a warmhearted smile.

The Doctor stepped down from the porch.

"It's almost night, and the streetlights still aren't on. In fact, _none_ of the lights are on. Not a single one!"

"Ours are!" Jenny observed, helpfully.

"The Tardis has its own power source," O replied, leaning against one of the support beams and staring in the direction of the Doctor as she meandered thoughtfully down the path through O's front yard. "The Tardis isn't connected to the city's power grid, which means..."

"The power's out," the Doctor finished O's thought where he had left off.

O nodded as she finished his sentence perfectly.

"Think it's anything serious?" O humored her, even when he already knew that _any_ mystery was far too enticing for the Doctor to pass up.

The Doctor hummed in thought.

"It could be nothing, but the fam and I were rounding up these creatures that feed on electricity earlier and it would be too much of a coincidence to have two electricity-related problems within hours of each other. Plus, the mother was missing. It wouldn't be much of a leap to bet she sniffed out the power grid and caused this."

The Doctor gestured faintly about the horizon as she considered this. She turned more fully to see O beaming away at her, his hands in his pockets, his shoulder against the beam at the top step of the porch, and a loving smile at his lips. Jenny watched the Doctor curiously as well, already at the edge of the deck. She stood patiently but full of energy, ready to take off at a moment's notice.

"And might this be a _family_ endeavour?" O asked in that falsely innocent way he was so good at.

The Doctor knew exactly what he was implying with that gentle, wide-eyed look of his.

The Doctor considered this for a moment. Jenny did look ever so hopeful. The Doctor couldn't exactly expect them to stay put even if she said no. She took a deep breath, her hearts racing and so very full of love.

"Alright. It shouldn't be too dangerous anyways-"

"An adventure?" Jenny cheered, "I've been waiting so long for this! And did you say fam? Do you have more family? And will there be running?!"

O simply grinned a little wider, clearly anticipating Doctor's reply.

The Doctor still hated him sometimes. She loved him of course, but also hated him. He clearly couldn't wait to see the Doctor try to explain this one to their human friends. It was sure to be an interesting conversation to say the least.

"Too much running sometimes," O smirked, "if you ask me."

"Come on, O," the Doctor said playfully. "We're taking my Tardis. We'll need to pick up the others if we have any chance of catching the zapron. Yaz and Ryan and Graham and I had such a hard time rounding them up earlier we'll need all hands on deck- especially if we have to search the entire electrical grid for one."

O stepped down the porch stairs with a nod and strayed after the Doctor to her Tardis, the same old familiar blue box parked on an off-center square of dying grass.

The Doctor was about to rush inside when O tapped her shoulder and gave a small nod back to Jenny.

The Doctor thanked him with a small pat of his shoulder and stepped back to O's front yard.

"Come on, Jenny! You're part of the family too now! It shouldn't be too eventful, but still no reason to leave you out of the fun!"

Jenny raced after them and stopped cautiously in front of the Tardis.

"Your ship is a box?"

The Doctor and O exchanged a knowing grin before the Doctor pushed the door open.

"Whoah..." Jenny gasped before stepping inside. She walked slowly into the room as if she expected to hit the opposite wall. She never did, and instead she made it all the way to the console. The amber and blue lights washed over her and even the Tardis welcomed her with a soft whirl, clearly recognizing one of their own.

"Hello?" Jenny asked, staring up at the soft blue backlight and warm orange glow that poured onto the room.

The Tardis replied with a friendly whirl that almost mimicked Jenny's 'hello'.

"That's the Tardis," the Doctor smiled as she shut the door behind them. "I think she likes you already."

"Your ship is alive?" Jenny asked in awe.

"Yes. And she _does hold grudges_ ," O assured her, "so be gentle with the console."

The Doctor chuckled to herself, "O, that was _one time_."

"She _shocked me_ on _purpose_. If she can hold a grudge then so can I!"

"You're insufferable," the Doctor said in a tone far too loving for her insult to hold any real weight.

The Doctor made her way to the console and began to flip a few buttons to warm her up. O took the side opposite to her and did the same.

The Doctor's phone suddenly rang.

"Hold on a mo!" She said as she pulled the device from her pocket, "hello?"

"Doctor?" she recognized Yaz's voice from the other end.

"Hello! We were just coming to get you!" the Doctor beamed cheerfully in response.

"Is it about the power being out? I just went over to Graham and Ryan's house and theirs is out too. Is this related to earlier?"

"Ah, Yaz! You're always a step ahead of me, aren't you!" the Doctor praised, "I think so. Mind lending us a hand?"

"No problem," Yaz replied cheerfully.

The Doctor plugged her phone into a wire on the console and traced the call with pinpoint accuracy. She turned the dials to zero in on the location, pulled up the emergency break, and readied the dematerialization stabilizers before glancing to O. He had already raised the shields with the flip of a switch and readied the Tardis for a new landing with the presses of a couple buttons. Short hops were difficult to pilot, but they were much easier when the Doctor wasn't flying alone.

O reached for the main lever- seeing as he was closest to it- but then paused. His eyes flickered over to the Doctor and they both knew exactly what he was thinking. The Doctor nodded subtly.

"Would you like to do the honors?" O asked Jenny.

"Really?" Jenny asked nervously. She looked back and forth between the two, O to her left and the Doctor to her right.

"Yeah, of course! And remind us to give you proper lessons sometime," the Doctor promised.

Jenny grinned ear to ear and happily pulled both her hands down on the large lever.

The ship immediately started up, whirling and shaking the same as always. Jenny stared up at the beautiful pillar at the center and the way it moved about like the piston of a massive engine.

The Doctor and O returned to the controls quickly and finished bracing the Tardis for its landing. In only a few seconds more, they stopped.

"Where are we?" Jenny asked.

"Still on Earth," the Doctor explained. "We're going to pick up our friends, and then go catch an energy draining creature and take it back home. Shouldn't be too difficult," she shrugged cheerfully.

"Famous last words, as always," O joked grimly, but his smile still hadn't faded.

The Doctor smiled lovingly. It was a good look on him.

"Come on, Jenny! Time to meet the rest of the fam!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot more of this story to share, so please bookmark or subscribe or whatever you'd like to do to be notified when I update! Or, if you don't like that kind of thing or don't have an account or something, you can check back on Saturdays!  
> I usually get some time on Friday evenings so Saturdays would be a good time to check in lol  
> I also have a tumblr account of the same name: @ embarrassingresultofmyfreetime where I'll announce when a new chapter gets posted! I don't post often on there, but I'll try to start doing that lol
> 
> A HUGE thank you to everyone who's been following this series!!  
> Suffice it to say, it has a very special place in my heart and has given me the courage to start sharing more of my work so... yeah. Thanks everyone. <3


	3. Family Outing

The Doctor pulled her door open to find that her Tardis was on top of- well, it was scraps of wood now but it appeared to have once been a coffee table.

"Not again!" Graham sighed.

The Tardis doors opened up to the small living room of Graham and Ryan's home. There were several candles lighting up the place while the three humans sat at the kitchen table on the next room over of the open floor plan.

"Oops! I'll fix it!" the Doctor promised, glancing down at the splintered wood and then back up to her fam, "But right now we should really get going! I think one of the creatures from earlier is still on the loose and we should really get it home before the local authorities show up! They really don't like it when you can do their job better than they can- do they?"

Yaz gave her a confused look.

"Who's that?"

The Doctor glanced over to see Jenny peeking her head out of the Tardis and giving the humans a friendly smile. O added to the mix by leaning against the Tardis door frame and giving the humans a small wave. He very, clearly, couldn't wait to see their reactions about all this. Baffling humans was an old favorite of his that appeared to have stuck.

"Right! Fam, meet Jenny! Jenny, meet the fam! Yaz, Ryan, and Graham!"

Each of the Doctor's companions gave a small wave in the order they were introduced.

The Doctor glanced to O who gave a supportive nod.

The Doctor then announced,

"Jenny is... our daughter!"

The Doctor maintained her smile and hoped her human friends would all take this new information well. Historically, she was very bad at predicting human reactions.

Yaz simply blinked before her face scrunched up in confusion, Ryan's eyes widened, and Graham glanced around as if it might be some kind of joke he didn't want to risk falling for.

O's goofy grin grew so wide his teeth were showing and his eyes were nearly hidden by the way his cheeks scrunched up. If the Doctor didn't know better, she would have mistaken his expression for mischievous.

"Okay. Er- We'll be there in a moment. We'll just clean up and blow out these candles," Graham eventually said.

The Doctor gave a sharp, understanding nod and then ducked back into the Tardis. Jenny stepped back inside as well, but she paused behind the shut door to watch her mother's face as O continued to watch.

The three humans huddled up in the kitchen and O could just faintly make out what they were saying from around the corner.

"I bet she's from the future. All that time travel? It would make sense," Graham reasoned.

"No way," Yaz shook her head, "I bet they adopted her. They probably were on some adventure and you know how the Doctor can be."

"I bet it was an accident-" Ryan began.

"Ryan!" Yaz and Graham both scolded him at the same time.

"No-" Ryan quickly clarified, "Not like that! I mean like, I bet they were working on some science project and accidentally ended up creating a new life and that's why she's already an adult! I bet she has the same powers as them!"

"They're not powers," Yaz replied.

"Okay, not powers, but you know what I mean!" Ryan replied.

"Can I get in on that wager?" O called across the room shamelessly from the still-open Tardis door.

He wasn't evil anymore, that much was true, but he did quite enjoy the simple pleasures life had to offer. One such gift was messing with his human friends.

The three humans groaned at having been caught. They returned to putting out the candles and grabbing their jackets before filing into the Tardis.

O was surprised when Graham paused and offered out a hand.

"Congrats," he said warmly.

O looked over to the Doctor, who was already back at the Tardis console, and then to Yaz and Ryan who were happily introducing themselves to Jenny.

O smiled into the distance.

"It is cause for celebration, isn't it?" O considered quietly as he shook Graham's hand.

"Is that not true where you're from?" Graham asked.

O shook his head and let his eyes fall sadly to the ground.

"I'm a bit... foggy on specifics-" O raised an open hand to hover flatly to the side of his face, "but no, it's really not. On Gallifrey, Time Lords were made, built with genetics weaved together in a very careful process. And once we were done, we were sent out to serve the families who took us in and trained us. The only times we could be kids- not that we were ever _really_ kids- was when we skipped class and caused mischief. Some people were born, in the lower lands, but not us. We were made to be Time Lords."

Graham nodded. He knew he couldn't understand, but gave O his sympathy all the same.

"Well, I'd suggest you give that one plenty of time to be young. They always grow up faster than what's good for them."

O nodded in understanding before adding a bit more harshly, "Jenny's not from the future- not me and the Doctor's personal future anyway. And no matter what you humans think, I'll kill anyone who tries to harm her before you could bat an eye. It doesn't matter where she's from, she's ours."

O was reasonably certain Graham froze at O's threat, but after a moment, he settled his hands deeper into his pockets and gave O a smile.

"O, you know Ryan's not genetically my kid, don't you?"

O simply blinked. He'd never really thought about it before.

"But I love him as my own son," Graham continued, "and that's the part that matters. Me and Yaz and Ryan can only guess at the crazy life you and the Doc lead, but having your kid's back is what being a parent- or grandparent- is all about. If you're already willing to take on the world for your kid, then you're already more of a parent than most out there."

O found his own defensiveness melt away. It felt... nice for Graham to say such a thing.

"Thank you," O finally met Graham's eyes again.

Graham gave him a little nod of understanding and a friendly smile before heading farther into the Tardis.

-

"It's nice to meet you! Jenny was it?" Yaz greeted Jenny with Ryan alongside her.

"Yes! You must be the Doctor's family she's been talking about. It's so nice to meet you!" Jenny shook their hands cheerfully and with slightly too much force.

"Nice to meet you too," Ryan added and decided not to mention that she had nearly crushed his hand. "Have you been on Earth long?"

"I just got here earlier today. I'm from Messaline, but from what I understand that's very far away from here so you might not have heard of it. I've been all over the universe looking for my father and then I was refueling my ship at neptune and I found Mom! And he brought me here to see my father and now we're all going on an adventure together! Isn't it exciting?"

Yaz and Ryan exchanged a glance.

"Hold on- Who's your father?" Yaz asked slowly.

"You know her as 'the Doctor'," Jenny said, as if it was nothing.

Yaz and Ryan nodded slowly, even though they actually understood significantly less now than they had before.

"Right."

They didn't get the chance to say much else as the Tardis whirled to life.

"Alright fam- Ah my full fam!" the Doctor beamed from the center of the room, "This is so exciting!"

The Tardis shook to life beneath their feet and the familiar hissing of the ship's inner workings took over at full force.

-

Once the Tardis stopped again, the Doctor hurried to the front doors and pulled them open to reveal the familiar night air of Earth.

"Here we are!" the Doctor announced as she stood before the miles of wire spanning across numerous enormous towers. Beneath it were a few large buildings, no doubt monitoring the flow of energy. She stepped out and looked around.

"It's a nice evening! Plenty of moonlight! We should be able to find the little lady without too much trouble! Come on, everyone!"

It really was a gang, wasn't it? The Doctor, O, their human friends, and now Jenny. A whole family trip and a half. It was wonderfully thrilling.

"No one touch anything if you can help it," the Doctor announced, "just look for the creature and once we find it, we can corner it."

The Doctor spun about to look over the massive, fenced in area.

"Graham, Ryan, you go left, Jenny, you're with me, we'll go right. O? Go with Yaz?"

O gave a firm nod of agreement.

Everyone set off.

-

"So a daughter," Yaz immediately said once she and O were alone.

O did his best to remember his manners. He had the feeling everyone was going to have something to say about this. And here he had been hoping to have a little fun with them. Of course it would backfire.

"And you have something to say about it?" O asked sharply.

Yaz scanned him over.

"Yeah. I mean- We all hung out just the other day! You nor the Doctor has ever mentioned that you have a daughter!"

"It's a recent development," O said passively. He pulled a small flashlight from one of the bigger-on-the-inside pockets of his coat. He began to scan the ground, carefully looking for the creature. You know, the actual reason they were there.

"So you adopted her?" Yaz asked, "I didn't know the Doctor wanted to have kids."

O closed his eyes and took a deep breath so Yaz couldn't see the way he was rolling his eyes.

"No, she's not adopted. And she's not from the future. That's two strikes."

Yaz stopped and at the silence of her steps, O stopped as well. He spun around, thinking the worst, only to find her paused.

"Was Ryan right?" Yaz asked in surprise.

"Not completely," O tilted his head, "but more than the other two of you I suppose."

"She's like you and the Doctor?" Yaz gasped.

O turned back to searching for the creature so he didn't have to keep his eyes on Yaz as he spoke.

"She's similar. We're all variations of the same, at this point," O suffice it to say.

He was very confused when Yaz suddenly took his free hand and grasped it in both of her own excitedly.

"That's wonderful!"

O looked her over, but Yaz seemed very sincere. So much so that O wasn't quite sure how to interpret it.

"Really? You're happy for us?" he considered.

"Of course I am! When we first met the Doctor she told us she didn't have any family anymore. She seemed so alone. I'm so glad she has you and Jenny now. I've never seen her so happy."

O's eyes fell away as a wide smile slowly took hold of his face.

"Me neither," O admitted.

Yaz nodded, and then pulled away to take the lead.

"Alright, now we can focus on finding that creature!"

-

Jenny raced about, checking under every scrap and behind every bin looking for the creature. The Doctor looked as well and very poorly tried to hide her bursting enthusiasm.

"This reminds me of the time my friend Will and I were serving as bodyguards for this princess and we had to track down a recording device disguised as an actual bug!" Jenny recounted brightly.

The Doctor chuckled.

"You've already had so many amazing adventures. I'm so happy you've gotten to see so much of the universe," the Doctor replied as she followed the same suit, overturning any scrap large enough to hide the creature in question and scanning about with her sonic.

"What does that do?" Jenny asked after a moment of watching the whirling device.

"This?" The Doctor tilted the object in her hand, "It's a sonic screwdriver. I broke my last one. And the one before that- and so on. But it's more or less the same. Try it for yourself!"

The Doctor tossed the device to Jenny.

Jenny caught the strangely shaped item without a bit of trouble and examined it in her hands.

"It's on a setting that scans for the genetic signature of the zaprons. Just press the button and point," the Doctor explained.

Jenny did just that and beamed away as the device made its signature noise.

"This is so cool!"

"It's very good at getting me out of a tight spot, I'll tell you that," the Doctor agreed with a nod.

Suddenly, a sharp ting of metal on metal sounded from a nearby electric box.

Both Time-Lord-adjacent figures turned their heads sharply at the sound. The Doctor tipped her head in the direction and gestured for Jenny to turn the dial on the sonic.

"23," the Doctor whispered.

Jenny glanced down, changed the setting as instructed, and pointed it at the box. The small door opened with a soft 'click' and out tumbled the creature. It had eaten through the back of the box and fell on its back on the grass.

It looked just as the Doctor had described; a hard exoskeleton and tiny legs that caused it to resemble a pillbug but was the size of a large cat. This one was even bigger- closer to a medium-sized dog- because it was the mother of the others.

"Hold on, don't touch it! It feeds on electricity who knows how bad it'll shock you!" the Doctor warned.

The Doctor shrugged off her jacket and reached over for the creature. She tossed the fabric on top and nearly had the creature in her grasp when it shuffled out from under her coat. It leap free and scurried back the way they'd just walked.

Jenny and the Doctor exchanged a look and then a smile before breaking off in unison. They ran at full speed after the quick critter.

-

He and Graham had been chatting about the same thing on everyone's mind- Jenny.

"So do you think Jenny can change the way the Doctor said she can? Like how the Doctor will show us photos of a bloke and say that's her- do you think Jenny has baby pictures of kids she used to be? What do you think O used to look like?" Ryan had considered.

"I've heard the Doctor say O was a woman, a while back. Do you think-" Ryan suddenly gasped, "What if we've met Jenny before and we just didn't know that person was her! Is it rude not to recognize someone like them just because they've changed?"

Ryan had gotten through a half dozen or so more innocently curious questions before he turned to see the Doctor and Jenny sprinting at full speed after one of the same creatures they'd rounded up with the Doctor earlier that day. Except this one was _even bigger_.

"Corner it!" Ryan looked up at the Doctor's shout.

Ryan attempted to block its path, but the tiny creature was far faster. It broke through he and Graham's line of defense with ease and scuttled its way under the fence at the edge of the facility.

The Doctor raced after it, but the creature dug its way to freedom and was on the other side in moments.

The Doctor let out an annoyed growl.

"We'll have to go around-" the Doctor began, panting.

"I've got this one!" Jenny beamed happily.

In seconds, Jenny shrugged off her own jacket and tossed it over her shoulder before taking the Doctor's jacket from her hands and adding it to the pile. Jenny then got an expert running start for the fence. She leapt up as high as possible and locked her fingers onto the chain-link fence on impact. Her thick boots were just barely able to get a hold in the tiny notches so Jenny pulled herself up mainly by her fingers on the wire.

"Careful! There's barbed wire at the top!" the Doctor warned her.

Jenny tossed her own coat overtop and flatten down the potentially painful curls of sharp metal. She gracefully launched herself overtop the fence and climbed down the other side in record time before landing hard on the wild grass at the other side. She crashed down to one knee to soften the impact of leaping down from such a height and pinpointed the creature attempting to escape.

Jenny hurried after it and pinned it down under the Doctor's coat. She took a few heavy breaths and smiled at her successfully completed mission.

Jenny picked up the creature and wrapped it tightly in the Doctor's coat so it wouldn't slip away again, nor electrocute the person holding it.

She turned back to _her family_ from the hillside and raised the creature up.

"Dad, look! I got it! Did you see?!" Jenny called cheerfully.

In all her time and all her jobs, she'd never had someone actively be proud of her good work. Usually, in her line of work, the best she got was a simple 'good' because the best was always expected.

However, now that she was back with the Doctor, Jenny wanted nothing more than to keep on impressing her. It made her feel something warm and wonderful in her heart that she'd never truly known before now.

"I did! That was amazing!" the Doctor cheered wholeheartedly.

"Where'd you learn that one?" O's voice called. Apparently he and Yaz had made it back just in time to witness Jenny's feat as well.

"I was working security at a museum that has this useless fence in the back. Me and a friend used to scale it for fun on our breaks!" Jenny recounted as she proudly bounced down the small incline.

She met her new family around the fence at the front of the facility where the Doctor used her sonic to unlock the front gate. Jenny returned the Doctor's coat- and the creature bundled inside- to her before sprinting off to retrieve her own coat still caught on the fence.

It took her a moment to pull it down, it's thin but durable army-green not quite wanting to break free of the tiny metal spikes. Jenny sighed when she finally got it down, quite thoroughly torn.

The Doctor waited at the front gates, scolding the small creature who was still trying to wiggle free mercilessly.

Jenny's eyes widened in surprise as she felt a large coat fall over her shoulders. She looked up in surprise to find O standing next to her, just out of her peripheral vision. He had taken off his own coat and set it on top of her.

"We'll get you a new one, don't worry. There's plenty of clothes in the Tardis wardrobe," O promised her.

"Thank you," Jenny beamed with disbelief.

"Good job, dearest," O smiled sincerely.

O turned away to catch up with the Doctor when he suddenly felt Jenny's arms wrap around him. She was so strong her embrace nearly squeezed the air out of him.

"Yes, alright," O patted her arm with one hand. He was really going to have to get used to that.

At last, Jenny pulled away and pulled her arms through O's coat properly. The stylish cut looked more like a trench coat on her smaller figure, but she was happy for it's warmth against the cold night air- and even happier for the gesture of affection.

-

They followed as the Doctor led the way to her Tardis. The Doctor handed the creature to Yaz to take care of so she could use both her hands to fly the ship. O joined her without the need to exchange another word.

The Doctor had helped him relearn how to fly the Tardis since their last adventure and their work on constructing a new console for the Tardis heart they'd rescued had taught them both a thing or two about piloting.

The Doctor and O raced about the console like they were in a perfectly balanced orbit. They moved back and forth over the console controls, but always across from each other, even as they did full laps around it. They worked wordlessly and in perfect balance.

"Alright, all that's left is to take this little lady home to her family on Velderin," the Doctor began her usual rundown. "It's a lovely planet where these creatures can feed on the planet’s natural electromagnetism rather than sabotaging the local electrical grid on Earth. The planet's civilization is practically untouched by the rest of the modern world- it's so far out of the way that it gets _very_ few visitors- so if we run into anyone, try not to offend them."

The Doctor looked up to a series of understanding nods.

The Tardis did its usual rock about the timestream and everyone wondered why there weren't any guide rails to hold onto.

In less than a minute, the ship stopped again. And everyone waited for the Doctor to lead the way to the front doors. She opened them specifically for Yaz who was still holding the upset creature. Yaz walked it outside and took a few good steps before setting the creature down onto the grass.

Everyone poured out of the Tardis and the Doctor pulled the front door shut behind them before the creature could sneak back inside.

"Nice try!" the Doctor said to the creature, "You're not eating up my Tardis today! Now scurry along."

The Doctor blocked its path with her brown boots. After a moment, the creature turned itself around and headed off through the grass.

"There we go! Mission success!" the Doctor cheered to no one in particular. She beamed away and rocked on her toes.

"First full fam mission! What a mouthful. Full fam? Extended fam? Team fam? I'll figure it out."

Everyone gave a good humored smile at that. The Doctor's chatter was always welcomed compared to silence.

Suddenly a loud 'pop' shook through the empty hills of pale orange grass. Everyone ducked a little on reflex- if nothing else- and turned to the origin of the noise.

A couple seconds later, a large sparkle rained down safely from the sky.

"What's that then, Doc? A festival?" Graham asked.

"Could be!" the Doctor agreed.

"Or a funeral," O added for no reason other than to entertain himself. He gave a grim little laugh at his own gallows humor but stopped as his eyes met the Doctor's.

"What?" he defended himself with his arms out to either side, "Maybe someone terrible died! A tyrant perhaps? A selfish billionaire? That would _absolutely_ be a cause for celebration," he reasoned.

A couple of nods were exchanged, convinced by O's logic, before the Doctor spoke up once more.

"Alright," the Doctor decided, "a festival or a funeral or any other number of events. Worst case, we could make sure it wasn't a warning flair. Should we check it out?"

"Can we? Yes, absolutely!" Jenny beamed.

"Sounds good to me," Yaz agreed.

"I've got nothing better on this evening," Graham nodded cheerfully, "and now that the electricity is taken care of I won't have to spend the night emptying out the fridge."

"Count me in!" Ryan added.

"There we have it!" the Doctor decided cheerfully.

Yaz returned the Doctor's coat to her and the lead Time Lord slid it on before leading the way over the steep hill.

Yaz, Jenny, and Graham were close behind.

"Twenty bucks you're wrong," Ryan laughed as he fell into step alongside O.

O turned to scan his eyes over the young man, intrigued.

"Pardon?"

"20 bucks it's not a funeral. I bet it's a harvest or something," he pressed, "everyone has a harvest season it seems."

O smirked and kept where he was at. He looked ahead to make sure the Doctor and Jenny were still alright. From the looks of it, they were exchanging stories of improbable adventures again. Just when O was certain he couldn't possibly love them any more than he already did, they kept on surprising him.

"Are you making a wager with me? After the one you suggested with the others earlier?" O asked, fascinated and doing his best not to feel insulted on his daughter's behalf.

"About that-" Ryan continued, "you know I was just messing around right? I mean, it's so fast! We just saw you both the other week! And Jenny's like the same age as me and Yaz! Is she really like you and the Doctor? With the regenerating and everything? Come on, which of us was closest?"

O smiled warmly up into the warm sunlight and soothing breeze. So Ryan's motives were innocent after all. He had wanted to assume so, but he had seen the way humans could get so wrapped up in their own concepts of love they forget that versions other than their own might exist.

He wouldn't have anyone believing Jenny wasn't theirs, especially not Jenny herself. O had seen the doubt in her eyes back when Jenny had explained everything to him.

O was a good actor and thus knew how to read the same signs on other people. Jenny had been worried that even after everything- the Doctor might not want to see her.

The way Jenny had told her story... he could see that Jenny still doubted herself. She was made for a war, involuntarily, and her father had disapproved of that. She'd spent her whole existence trying to become something more than that, someone who her father could be proud of when she _did_ finally track the time lord down again.

O understood that on a deeper level than he was willing to admit. His past was quite cloudy- and he was content with it remaining that way- but he knew from the Doctor's own explanations what the truth was.

O deeply, truly, wholeheartedly couldn't bear the idea of Jenny falling victim to that same fate. He didn't want Jenny to feel like an outcast- not for a second. Whether she wanted to stay on Earth or continue on her adventures was completely up to her, but O would make sure she would always have somewhere to come back to where she would be accepted- no matter what.

"Truthfully?" O pushed his hands into his pockets.

"You are."

"Yes!" Ryan cheered quietly with a fist pump into the air.

"She was made from the Doctor's genetics to be a soldier, lifetimes of the Doctor's ago," the Master explained in simple terms.

"Made?"

"Yes, from an extrapolation of the Doctor's genetics."

"Whoa. Why did the Doctor help make a soldier?"

"Well, from what I understand, she- or rather he- didn't. The military unit took a tissue sample without permission."

"Oh..." Ryan processed this.

O gave a nod.

"Wait a minute- Why _are_ you telling me this?" Ryan asked suddenly, "You never give us information for free. Half the time I'm not even sure if you _like_ us."

O smiled proudly at that. It was true, he very rarely gave them a leg to stand on. If they ever bothered him about something, he often liked to tell them that particular thing was 'the Doctor's story to share when she's ready'- and since they all knew the Doctor rarely ever shared anything personal, they would simply give up.

However, this was different.

"Because I expect that once your curiosity is satisfied, you won't ask again," O stated flatly.

Ryan simply nodded, "Makes sense. Alright well... then where has she been? And why haven't you or the Doctor mentioned her before?"

O grabbed Ryan's upper arm and stopped him dead in his tracks. O all but dragged Ryan down to his level and craned his neck to threaten the young man probably a little closer than he needed to.

"That's _exactly_ the kind of thing I don't want you asking," O hissed as he jabbed a finger into Ryan's chest.

Ryan nodded rapidly, taking O's implied threat very, very seriously.

O scanned him over for a moment before letting Ryan go. He resumed walking at the perfect time. The Doctor spared him a glance over her shoulder to make sure he was alright before turning back to the conversation at hand. O smiled innocently and took a moment to compose himself before turning his attention back to a slightly-shaken Ryan.

"Jenny… died. The Doctor waited, but assumed that was the end of it when she didn't regenerate. It turns out Jenny was alright after all, no harm done, but it's a bit of a sore point- so I'd really _appreciate it_ if you didn't bring it up again."

The infliction in O's voice made it clear that he was not really _asking_.

Ryan quickly voiced his agreement.

"Absolutely. No problem."

"Excellent," O confirmed.

There was a brief pause.

"Question time's up. I suppose I'll take you up on your previous wager. It would only make sense seeing as we've been _talking about it this whole time_."

Ryan paused to uncover the real meaning behind O's words. Once he did, he nodded.

"Right. Yes. Wow, you really have this lying thing down."

"Thank you. I do try," O smiled politely.

"God you're terrifying," Ryan said a little too loudly.

O simply grinned.

"You really love them, don't you?" Ryan asked suddenly.

O wasn't quite sure what to make of this question.

"Of course. All my lives, everything I've seen, everything I've done- and nothing in any life has made me happier than I am now. I've always looked for entertainment, stimulation, that _something_ that makes you feel _alive_ ," O shook his head softly.

"But it turns out any old planet can be overturned in a day. Any planet will burn the same as the one before. It's not even that difficult to do once you know which buttons to press," he shrugged nonchalantly.

"The Doctor was the only one who was ever worth fighting- the only opposition interesting enough to hold my attention. Without her, there was no reason to do anything.

I played every card I had and she still won. So now, in a way, this is her reward for winning- as well as my consolation prize."

He smiled to himself for a moment at the thought. As though it was distant and he wasn't quite sure where it had come from.

"But in a word? Yes, I love the Doctor. And even though I've only recently met Jenny, I love her just as much. I'd kill you where you stood if they asked," he promised.

"I can't imagine that'd be too difficult for you," Ryan countered.

"No," O smiled sweetly despite his merciless eyes. He spoke as if his words were a simple tune, as casual as any, "I suppose not. So it's in your best interest not to upset them. There are few things I wouldn't do to ensure their wellbeing."

Ryan paused as O continued to the head of the group.

"So terrifying," Ryan echoed as he ran their conversation over once more.

Deep down, Ryan was happy for O. Ryan himself wouldn't have minded a parental figure lending him unconditional support when _he_ was growing up. He couldn't figure out O for the life of him, but if there was one constant- it was the Doctor. If O was true to his word- and O had been true to his word so far- then Ryan had no reason so believe he would change now.

Ryan had always been in O's corner through all of this, and he wondered if the fact that O was being so honest with him meant the same in return.

O was definitely the kind of madman Ryan wouldn't mind having in his corner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fam's first adventure! Which, of course, leads into a much bigger adventure lol  
> I love writing Jenny and her new-ness and her determination to prove herself to her new family! It's just so very wholesome and human.  
> Even though OF COURSE the Doctor and O think she's amazing no matter what! She's their kid and they love her unconditionally.
> 
> I especially love O in this chapter and the way he talks to each of the fam individually. He's always my favorite part of these stories because he's such a strong character. He KNOWS what it's like to be alone and to feel rejected and he doesn't want that for Jenny.  
> He knows this must be difficult for the Doctor too, so he ends up being a very beneficial buffer between everyone because he knows how people think.  
> He's just REALLY interesting. Especially in this au.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading.


	4. Born of Blood or Forged by Fire

It didn't take long for the group to reach the edge of the hillside.

"Here we are!" the Doctor announced.

She looked down the steep hillside to the large valley below. The entire area was coated in simple but beautiful, brightly colored houses and streets filled with cluttered shop fronts. The town appeared to have been turned into an enormous outdoor market for whatever festivities were being celebrated below.

The group made their way to the front gates to be met with no resistance. The cheerful chatter of families walking about the brightly decorated streets and instrumental music flooded their senses from every angle as they passed through the front gates at the entrance. The large, intricate patterns of large tapestries could be better seen from the street. They all seemed to be unique, but the predominant color was a cheerful yellow similar to the grass outside.

The most incredible thing about it was the people.

There was a wide variety of creatures. Many were humanoid, but some were not. To one side was a people with faces almost like deer with large curled horns. They had very short fur, all different shades of brown, and appeared to be a single but large family selling whatever this planet's equivalent of fruits was. Down the road further was a family covered in scales, with sharp faces and elegant features that flowed into each other. They appeared to be selling blankets. At another stall, were a smaller group- presumably another family- that look like they were plants rather than people. They had almost redwood-like skin with a rough texture that the Doctor could swear she'd met relatives of at least once before.

They were all different, but all seemed to consist of a couple elders, a few adults, and several kids running about playing with children of the other families.

"This is beautiful!" the Doctor exclaimed as she glanced around and pressed her palms to her hips, "Why don't I visit this planet more often?"

"Excuse me?" Yaz asked the nearest family. The nearest adult, a tall figure with deep brown fur and horns gracefully curled at either side of their head, stared at Yaz with wide eyes.

"Yes?" they asked in surprise.

"What are you all celebrating?"

"You don't know?" They said nervously despite being quite a large figure with a deep voice, "I mean- Sorry! It's the Celebration of Generations, we have it once every 5 cycles. A family from each city is chosen to travel all the way out here to meet with the others and exchange resources. It's an enormous honor and a wonderful event. But I'm sure you knew that already!" the creature dipped their head respectfully.

"Thank you! Sorry, it's my first time here. No need to be nervous, it's not a pop quiz," Yaz comforted them.

The tall creature gave another dip of their elegant head, relaxing slightly.

It didn't last long though. They recoiled the second the Doctor approached.

"Hello! Is that tapestry your family crest? Family crest adjacent I suppose. It's beautiful!"

The vendor looked the Doctor over before standing up to their full, 7-foot height and took an uneasy step back. They gave Yaz a respectful nod and said a simple, "Excuse me" before turning away entirely.

The Doctor leaned a hand against the front table.

"That was strange. Something I said?" the Doctor asked aloud to Yaz.

Yaz only shrugged.

"Maybe they just have better things to do. Come on, Doctor. There's plenty more to see."

The Doctor paused for a moment and stared down the family who was sitting farther back, exchanging stories. They turned away from the Doctor's stare the moment they noticed it.

The Doctor felt uneasy about it, but soon turned to follow Yaz instead. There was plenty more to see than one awkward family. She decided not to let it get her down and let Yaz lead the way instead.

-

Much like the Doctor, Jenny's curiosity was boundless. There was so much to see and she was practically racing down the street trying to take everything in as fast as possible. She looked to each shop as she passed, waved to everyone she saw, and then spun around and did it all again.

She skipped about to the beat of the peppy music flooding the streets. For once, she had no goal, no obligations, and no doubt looming over her head. She was on a new world with her new family and everything felt incredible. Years of traveling, and she'd never even noticed the weight on her shoulders until it was alleviated and she could run free.

O trailed after her, taking his time but never falling too far behind. He kept Jenny in his sights and always nodded with a warm smile whenever Jenny pointed out something particularly interesting. They might have had a slightly rough start, but Jenny felt as though she was getting the hang of who O was already.

He was guarded, but good at heart- and that was what mattered most to her.

O occupied himself by swiping a couple small trinkets from the shops when no one was paying attention. It wasn't that he particularly wanted them, but, well, who knows what currency they even take on this nowhere planet and it was far too tempting to simply ignore. He needed _something_ to occupy himself with while they were here.

A piece of fruit too close to the edge here, a piece of jewelry left out in the open there, sometimes he wasn't even sure _what_ the thing was- he just knew it would be a lot more fun if he could sneak it into his pocket without being caught. It was harmless fun really.

Not to mention, he didn't feel too terrible about it judging by the way some of the shop owners were glaring at him. He wasn't sure what reason they had for being rude. If anything, they actively avoided being anywhere near him at every turn. _They_ were the ones who looked like they were from every branch of a family tree- not him.

On one side was a family of lizard people and the other were birds. Who were they to look at him as if he was the stranger here?

"Mom?" Jenny said, jogging back down the street to meet O at the center.

They had finally reached a stage where a band was playing- only to find that it had gone quiet.

"I'm... starting to think they don't like us being here," Jenny pointed out quietly.

O nodded in agreement and glanced around. The cheerful conversation had fallen flat an uncomfortable amount of time ago and hadn't resumed since. What had previously been a celebration had now fallen eerily quiet.

"Interesting. Our mere presence seems to be upsetting them. Or-"

O froze in his tracks.

"What is it?"

O took a deep breath and chuckled mildly to himself.

"Well I hope they don't know who I am. It occurs to me that if they do, I'm about to be in a lot more trouble than I thought I'd be."

Before Jenny could ask any more questions, one of the locals approached them. This person was one of the deer-like people they'd passed at the entrance- and who were apparently the most common of people here.

"What family do you belong to?" they asked down their slender nose.

O held an arm out to warn Jenny to keep behind him.

O smiled, and worked up the nerve to do some of his best talking. He waved one hand about, letting his fingers curl naturally and he dipped his head as to appear a little less threatening.

"Ah hello! So nice to _finally_ speak with someone! My family and I are simply visiting the _lovely_ city you have here. Although I will admit," he took a small step closer and lowered his voice a bit, "a few of your friends haven't exactly been the most _welcoming_."

He then raised himself up more fully, lifting his chin to scan over the tall figure's face.

"Who do you recommend I speak with about that?"

"This is a sacred event. We don't accept people of your kind here," the figure replied.

O's eyes widened slightly but he chose to nod with false agreement.

"And who might our kind be? In your eyes?" O questioned boldly, a little too close for comfort in the face of this local. Sure this deer-ram-whatever creature might be a lot taller and stronger than him, but O was never one to be outwardly intimidated by such tactics. He already had blood on his hands, and his morals had no qualms about taking on a little more for the sake of defending the very few people he cared about.

"We celebrate the gift of life, passed on from those before us to the presently living, generation after generation. We see lineage and celebrate it- yet neither of you appear to have any who have come before you. What are you? How can you be alive and have no bloodline?"

"Ah, that," O nodded rapidly as if this somehow cleared everything up. At least it wasn't the reputation of his previous lives that was about to get them in trouble.

He turned away thoughtfully and meandered for a few steps. He caught Jenny's eye.

They could probably take this person down, but they were surrounded by dozens, if not hundreds, of onlookers.

There was one other option. O did keep his compression device with him. He could probably use it and bargain his way out- but he really didn't want to do that. Especially not in front of Jenny. The device was a last resort and he didn't want to use it unless he had no alternative. He briefly wondered what the Doctor would do.

"This is just a simple miscommunication!" O assured them. "We're just from a different culture. Allow me to talk to whoever's in charge and I'll clear this right up!"

"Absolutely not," his request was quickly and rudely denied. More creatures were closing in now, more of the same who had been alerted to O and Jenny's presence.

"Not only do you not have a lineage, but you have nothing,” the guards elaborated pointedly. They pressed closer and looked past O to Jenny.

“You _are nothing_ ,” the creature hissed as if it was a fact. “You must be some kind of experiment meant to infiltrate our way of life! For that, you are both under arrest."

"Hey now," O attempted to reason with the townspeople. He flashed an innocent smile. “We're all civilized people here! Let's just talk about this-"

"You're not real people!" someone else shouted angrily from the sidelines. An unyielding crowd rapidly gathered on all sides of the town’s latest uninvited guests.

O looked to Jenny nervously. He was quickly running out of options.

"Alright. If that's the way it has to be," O decided.

He had given them a chance to be reasonable. No one could say he didn’t try. That felt like good enough justification as O reached for his inside pocket.

In one swift motion, he grabbed Jenny's hand and pulled out his hidden device with the other.

He zapped two of the guards to effectively make a door in the crowd encircling them. He broke through the wall of townsfolk with Jenny close behind. The pair of creatures he had zapped clattered to the dust at their feet like tiny figurines.

O wasn't much of a runner, but running for your life had a habit of giving you that extra spark needed to escape an escalating situation such as this.

"What did you do to them?" Jenny asked.

O sighed and paused for a moment to spin around. He aimed for the tiny figures- and thankfully they returned to normal once more.

"Ah. I'm glad that worked!" He noted to himself.

He then took off running once more, keeping Jenny close to his side.

"No time for that right now. Time to run! You said you liked the running earlier- I hope that means you're good at it!"

-

"This is so cool!" Ryan exclaimed as he picked up a small item from a nearby booth. He, Graham, Yaz, and the Doctor were strolling along together as usual. The humans were absorbed in all the different types of handcrafted items made by the vendors- and the sellers took an even greater pride in their compliments. The Doctor tagged along, but she was quieter than usual. There was something not quite right in the way she caught the locals staring at her.

"Cool?" One person who faintly resembled- what was it? Perhaps a penguin?- asked curiously.

"Cool! Like it's amazing and beautiful!" Ryan clarified.

The shopkeeper nodded deeply in respect and was very clearly pleased to hear this.

"Thank you! Your words are such a brightness to our family!" they thanked Ryan.

The Doctor hummed thoughtfully, and decided to give it a shot herself.

She walked back to the same booth a few minutes later and examined something else.

"This is gorgeous. Is it for sale?"

She was ignored.

"Hey! Excuse me?"

Nothing.

The Doctor ended up sulking back to her humans with growing disdain.

"Everyone's so nice here!" Yaz exclaimed after having a wonderful exchange with yet another humble merchant.

The Doctor only sighed.

"To you maybe. They're acting like I don't even exist!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Wait, what?" The others replied with some variation thereof.

"Yeah!" the Doctor announced in frustration, "Yaz, watch this-"

The Doctor scurried across the well-worn, dirt path to another booth.

"Hello! How are you?"

The shopkeep barely looked at her. They only continued pretending to clean up farther back in their tent.

"Hey!" Yaz added, her eyebrow scrunched together.

The shopkeep immediately turned to her.

"Hello! How might I be of service?" they asked Yaz politely.

"Yeah!" Yaz said, now just as frustrated as the Doctor, "Why will you talk to me, but not my friend?"

"Your friend?" The person nearly gasped, "Their kind is not welcome here- but of course you are always welcome, dear friend!" they assured Yaz.

Now Yaz and the Doctor were twice as confused.

"Me?" Yaz asked, "Why me but not her?"

The shopkeeper's eyes widened with surprise.

"You have a long and intricate lineage! Lines and lines of ancestors before you, and those you have a deep connection to nonetheless! Your line is rich with history and so my family will extend nothing but the utmost respect to you! Please speak kindly of my line, I meant no offence!" the shopkeep promised earnestly.

Yaz and the Doctor shared a brief, thoughtful look.

"So you can see Yaz's ancestors?" the Doctor asked, "Just from a glance? All of human evolution?"

The shopkeep shied away from the Doctor's question.

"Hey, answer her question!" Yaz insisted, "And I might just 'speak well' of you yet!"

The shopkeep nodded furiously,

"It's... more of an energy surrounding you. But yes, everyone here can sense it. But your friend-" they looked ever so briefly to the Doctor. They barely spared her a fraction of a second, "-they don't have one. We assumed that perhaps she was an android assisting you and so no one's mentioned anything of it."

"Android!" the Doctor exclaimed,

"No, I'm not an android! Not that I have anything against androids- they're a lovely people- but I'm living and breathing! Why would you be against androids anyways?"

Yaz added a glare and the person caved immediately.

"They're made. Artificial. We don't consider them to be living."

"What?!" The Doctor gasped, "Made or not: they grow! They find purpose! They love people and have people who love them! You don't even show them basic decency?"

"They're not people. You can turn them off. Now, will all due respect-" obviously directly to Yaz and only Yaz, "please take your 'friend' and leave. I don't want to be seen interacting with 'a blank'."

"A blank?!" the Doctor gasped.

"A blank life, no history, not part of a family. Now, please," the shopkeep shooed them along.

The Doctor grumbled as she stepped away.

"I'll turn _you_ off in a minute!"

Yaz ushered her away. The Doctor crossed her arms and didn't speak again until Yaz took her further up the road and out of sight of that rude creature. Yaz tucked them both away between a couple of the tents.

"Doctor, it's alright. Just forget about them. Let's get the others and leave. There's the whole rest of the universe to explore! We don't have to stand here and take this."

The Doctor was quite for a moment more, but eventually uncrossed her arms as Yaz rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Right. You're right," the Doctor agreed with a weak smile. "Always a step ahead of me, as per usual. But still."

The Doctor sat down on the ground and pulled her legs to her chest.

Yaz sat down opposite to her.

"Usually you don't let other people's opinions affect you this much."

Yaz paused briefly but the Doctor didn't speak up again.

"Is this about what happened before? With your home?" Yaz asked carefully.

The Doctor took a slow, steady breath. She rested her chin on her knees and closed her eyes.

For a while- too long- she was quiet. And Yaz already knew things were their worst when the Doctor was quiet.

Still, Yaz waited. And let her have her time.

Finally, when she was ready, she spoke.

"I was remade, the way all Time Lords are made. But I guess... when the Master said that I was from somewhere else- all that time ago on Gallifrey- I'd begun to think that maybe, in some other dimension, there was a world of people like me. I mean _really_ like me," the Doctor explained, "that my home was never gone because Gallifrey wasn't my home. There was somewhere else, still waiting for me."

The Doctor hid her face away again.

"And then when the Master decided to become O, I realized I didn't _need_ this fantasy of a world with people like me. _He_ is my family... and so are you! And Ryan, and Graham! And now Jenny! I'm happier than ever... but....

I didn't realize how much it would hurt to have that fantasy taken away from me so suddenly. I shouldn't care..."

"But now you know there's no one waiting for you," Yaz finished.

The Doctor nodded.

She took another minute, but once it was over she gave it up. The Doctor brushed her sleeve over her face, and stood up.

"Sorry. You're right. I'm not going to let this get to me. There's the whole rest of the universe to explore! We don't need to stick around any longer."

Yaz gave a firm nod of agreement. Together, they walked back to the main street.

"Alright!" The Doctor returned to her usual state.

"Ryan and Graham went that way. ...But where are-"

Almost in response, the Doctor caught sight of O and Jenny running at full speed down the street with what looked like an entire zoo of humanoid people after them.

"Hey, love!"

"Hi, Dad! Bye, Dad!"

O and Jenny waved to the Doctor respectively as they sprinted past. They dodged marketplace vendors and leapt over stalls, clearly in a mad dash to escape their pursuers.

The Doctor chuckled at the sight.

"Should have known," the Doctor grinned proudly.

Her hearts burst back to life again at the sight of them. Right. They were the ones she needed to focus on.

_ They _ were her family, and that was more than enough.

"Find Graham and Ryan and we'll meet you back at the Tardis."

"Sounds like a plan," Yaz agreed.

Yaz set off to the left and the Doctor raced after her own troublemakers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone thank @ lemondropss 's comment on the first chapter for the inspiration lol  
> I've never spoken to them in my life, so I hope they're okay with me mentioning them- but they suggested: "maybe a planet that has some interesting family aspect. A celebration of generations?"  
> so I came up with this whole idea of creatures that branch off from different species who are able to see someone's lineage just by looking at them. It will be explained more later of course, but that's the just of it.
> 
> And the problem is obviously that the Doctor, O, and Jenny have all had their DNA tampered with in some way, so they look VERY strange to the people of this planet. And in contrast; Yaz, Ryan, and Graham come from VERY long lines of ancestry which means they appear VERY prestigious.  
> So yeah. The usual of Time Lords being very well known and respected basically gets flipped on its head for the duration of this story lol.
> 
> Sorry I'm going on about it. I just get excited to talk about my ideas lol  
> Thanks for reading! :D


End file.
